HOST A CONTEST P A R T I C I P A N T. Erase A Chalkboard

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1 HOST A CONTEST Erase A Chalkboard 2015 MACHINE CONTEST P A R T I C I P A N T Rube Goldberg, Inc. Six Barry Lane Westport, CT Fax: Rube@rubegoldberg.com SEPTEMBER 2014 HOST A CONTEST 1

2 MISSION RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE CONTESTS (RGMCs) are designed to encourage teamwork and out-of-the-box problem solving for students of all ages. STEM and STEAM friendly, RGMCs tackle the most mundane tasks and ask participants to create their own overly elaborate and hilariously conceived wacky contraptions in honor of the competition s founding father. Rube Goldberg ( ) was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, best known for his nutty chain reaction inventions. The popularity of these cartoons made him a cultural touchstone, an adjective in Merriam-Webster s Dictionary, and a term that today is invoked daily in American media. (If you re not familiar with Rube Goldberg s work, go to the Gallery section of rubegoldberg.com) We encourage the use of every-day objects to create your Rube Goldberg Machine and to integrate as many recycled items as possible. Imagine the kinetic component of everything in the world around you and put it into motion in your Rube Goldberg Machine! All content of this Official HOST A CONTEST document, including text and illustration, is copyright of Rube Goldberg, Inc. All Rights Reserved. RUBE GOLDBERG is a registered trademark of Rube Goldberg Inc. HOST A CONTEST 2

3 HOST RESPONSIBILITIES There is no fee to RGI to become a Host. There are responsibilities in Hosting. The Host should download the 2015 Rube Book from our web site, available in August. The Host will have sole responsibility for organizing and running their competition. 1. Communication With registered teams: let them know you have received their registration form keep them informed of any changes: snow date, contest cancellation, etc With RGI: pre-contest concerning any changes: snow date, contest cancellation, etc Host of the World Contest must know 2 weeks in advance of the Contest, if your site will be sending a team. post contest: as soon as your contest completes, the following information to rube@rubegoldberg.com for inclusion on our web site and in our newsletter: 1. Name of Host Site 2. Name of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams and name and city/state of school they represent 3. jpgs of the above - identify each team. 2. Choose a Competition Site Chairman Each Host must have a contest chairman. The Host Chairman will be the contact person for RGI and for any teams that have questions about the site. The Host will determine how many teams they will allow. The Chairman should download, and encourage all teams to download, the 2015 Rule Book from rubegoldberg.com. 3. Choose a Competition Site The site should be a large open room or area that accommodates teams, machines, judges, audience and refreshments. Suggested sites for competitions: gymnasiums, ballrooms, science or children s museums, convention halls, Armories, etc. NEW THIS YEAR: we allow teams to build outside of the box! You got it - No more 6 cube machine size constraint! PLEASE READ NEW RULES CAREFULLY. Please see Machine Volume Worksheet, page 17 of the 2015 Rule Book, to see how machines may be configured. If you have space restraints (i.e. door or ceiling heights), include them in your listing. HOST A CONTEST 3

4 HOST RESPONSIBILITIES 4. Pick a Date for your Competition Local / Regional Competitions must be held before the World Contest for their level. World Contest dates and venues are listed on our web site in the Contest Schedule. rubegoldberg.com/contest_schedule. 5. Register as a Host with RGI the following information to RGI at: rube@rubegoldberg.com: - Team fee is $ Will you be subsidizing any part of the team fee? If so, how much? - host name and full address - venue location name and full address - how many teams will be allowed - date, day and time of competition - time venue open for set-up, time competition starts (please allow minimum of 2 hours between set-up and competition start) - registration deadline date (Host picks the registration deadline) - contact name, and phone number of the Host Chairman All competition information will be posted on rubegoldberg.com/contest_schedule. TEAMS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO REGISTER FOR YOUR CONTEST UNTIL THIS INFORMATION IS POSTED ON OUR SITE. 6. Get the Word Out About Your Competition Publicity is the key to building a long term successful program. Once you register as a Host, RGI will the following to you for marketing/advertising purposes: - The Rube Goldberg logo - Official Poster/Flyer-delivered by as a pdf - 2 Rube Goldberg images of your choice. All available images can be found in the Gallery on our web site. rubegoldberg.com. Any materials developed by the Host should be forwarded to RGI for approval prior to distribution. Target schools in the surrounding towns through mailings, newspapers announcements and press releases. Local Boards of Education, Fraternities, Sororities and Associations are good resources for entrants. HOST A CONTEST 4

5 HOST RESPONSIBILITIES 7. Line up Judges for Your Competition Host site will select at least 3 judges with a maximum of 12. Suggested individuals for judges include: Teachers/Educators, Engineers of various disciplines, Town Officials and Sponsors, Architects, Artists. Plan for alternate judges to avoid last minute problems. Judges will use the Official Rube Goldberg Machine Contest Judging Form. There is a copy of the 2015 Judging Form included in this handbook. You can get full size copies on our web site. 8. Funding Your Competition Suggested sponsors: Manufacturing and Engineering companies, local businesses, local colleges, educational supply stores, etc. Use social media to professional societies for sponsorship. Expenses may include: - Facility Fees - Postage, printing and mailing of recruitment materials - Refreshments at competition - Awards / Prizes - Printing of Program Agenda 9. Hold Your Competition For every 20 participants in a Regional Contest, 1 team may attend the World Contest. For every additional 20 participants in a Regional, 1 additional team may attend (e.g., = 2 teams advancing). After the winners of a Regional Contest are announced, teams advancing to a World Contest have 1 week to rube@rubegoldberg.com whether or not they plan to participate. There are no additional fees to compete in a World Contest. If an advancing team from a Regional Contest is unable to participate in a World Contest, the next highest scoring team from that Regional Contest may choose to participate in place of the advancing team. No competition will be held for any location with fewer than 3 entrants. Should a location have fewer than 3 teams, the Host should inform RGI and the location will be cancelled for that year. Teams competing from the same school are considered individual entrants. HOST A CONTEST 5

6 HOST RESPONSIBILITIES 10. Awards Host sites give recognition/awards to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams. Additional awards are allowed. Examples are: Best Step Funniest Step Best Design Most Rube Like Machine Best Presentation Risk Award Peer Award Best Construction Most Creative Use of Materials Awards, trophies or certificates are provided by the host location. The RGI logo and the contest badge art work may be used by any host to create items. RGI gives a 20% discount on any item in the Rube Store to any host site using the items as awards or gifts. 11. After Your Competition Inform the winning team that they must contact RGI and the World Contest Host a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the World Contest. Please the following info to rube@rubegoldberg.com for inclusion on our web site and in our newsletter: 1. Name of Host Site 2. Name of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams and name and city/state of school they represent 3. jpgs of the above teams if you have them. Please identify each team. 4. If you have a video link of your contest that we can embed, please send that also. HOST A CONTEST 6

7 JUDGING FORM - RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE CONTEST Full size Judging Form is available in the 2015 Rule Book RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE CONTEST JUDGING FORM (ALL CONTESTS) TEAM NAME: 100 Points Total Judging will be based on a 100-point scale broken down into the following categories: n Spirit of Rube Goldberg (50 points) n Task Completion (8 points) Whimsical (0 to 5 points) Does the machine use whimsically creative steps to complete the task? Everyday Items (0 to 5 points) Do you find everyday and/or repurposed items on the machine? Task Completed (0, 4, or 8 points) 0 points - Task did not complete during both runs. 4 points - Task completed on one run. 8 points - Task completed on both runs. Laugh Barometer (0 to 5 points) Similar to Rube Goldberg s cartoons, how funny is the machine? Theme or Story (0 to 5 points) Does the machine tell a story? Absurd Complexity (0 to 30 points) = 0.46 x (DIV I) (round to nearest) = 0.55 x (DIV II & III) How many steps does the machine have? (# steps) n Reliability (18 points) Reliability of the Machine (0, 9, or 18 points) 0 points - Machine requires interventions on both runs. n Communication and Teamwork (15 points) Team Chemistry (0 to 5 points) How well did the team communicate, work together, and use checklists? Step List and Machine Volume Worksheet (0 to 5 points) How clear, concise, and creative is the written explanation of the machine? Were the calculations on the Machine Volume Worksheet correct? Machine Explanation (0 to 5 points) How clear, concise, and creative is the video/live explanation of the machine? 9 points - Machine runs perfectly for one run. 18 points - Machine runs perfectly for both runs. n Repeatability (9 points) Repeatability of the Machine (0 or 9 points) 0 points - None of the steps ran identically in both runs. 9 points - Machine ran identically in both runs. n Penalties (up to -30 points) Rule Violations (up to -15 points) Did any aspect of the machine or presentation violate the rules? Out of Bounds Objects (up to -15 points) -5 point deduction for each object that exits the machine boundaries. SUBTOTAL COLUMN 1 SUBTOTAL COLUMN 2 COLUMN 1 + COLUMN 2 = TOTAL MACHINE SCORE HOST A CONTEST 7

8 MACHINE CONTEST RUBE STORE Rube Goldberg products are available in the Rube Store on our web site: rubegoldberg.com. RGI gives a 20% discount to any host site using the items as awards. Playing cards in plastic case. The Best Mousetrap HOST A CONTEST 8

9 CONTEST CONTACT INFORMATION Executive Director: Kathleen Felix rubegoldberg.com Phone: Education Outreach Director: Shawn Jordan, Ph.D Assistant Education Outreach Director: Drew Wischer To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. Thomas Edison Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, International Online Rube Goldberg Machine Contest - Ages TM, Rube Goldberg Machine TM and the Rube Goldberg Challenge are all trademarks of RGI. HOST A CONTEST 9